Question
Hi,I am a 53 year old female with RA for 17 years.Achilles tendonitis recent new symptom for about 1 week. My rheumatology nurse says increasing oral steroids will not help and plans to inject steroids but I read on the net that this is more likely to lead to tendon rupture at a later date. Need another opinion although I trust my nurse - she is brilliant. Thanks.

Answer
Shannon,

Sorry to hear about developing Achilles Tendonitis on top of RA. Your nurse is right about increasing oral steroids not helping with the tendonitis. The level you take for RA is greater than what you would take for tendonitis. Yes, it is true that injected steroids raise the risk of a tendon rupture but it is rare when that happens. Most tendonitis will resolve it self in a few days with rest. It you have had it for about a week while on steroids then it is a serious case of tendonitis. Serious tendonitis left untreated has a greater risk of leading to a tendon rupture than does injected steroids.

I wish you well.

Rusty
http://arthritis-symptom.com